It's a f*cking bomb!

(via Gizmodo)

Valentine's Day - Bite Me

Valentine's Day is around the corner and I am so not in the mood. But yet I spend an insane amount of time listening to love songs. Well, messed up love songs. That has something to do with me posting Tuesday Morning and Should I Stay Or Should I Go. So I've decide to continue the practice. One song a day until V-Day. Consider it SixSider's Wallow Playlist.

It's Oh So Quiet by Bjork

Shhhh, Shhhh
It's, oh, so quiet
It's, oh, so still
You're all alone
And so peaceful until...
You fall in love
Zing boom
The sky up above
Zing boom
Is caving in
Wow bam
You've never been so nuts about a guy
You wanna laugh you wanna cry
You cross your heart and hope to die
'Til it's over and then
Shhh, Shhh
It's nice and quiet
Shhh, Shhh
But soon again
Shhh, Shhh
Starts another big riot
You blow a fuse, zing boom
The devil cuts loose, zing boom
So what's the use, wow bam
Of falling in love
It's, oh, so quiet
It's, oh, so still
You're all alone
And so peaceful until...
You ring the bell, bim bam
You shout and you yell, hi ho ho
You broke the spell
Gee, this is swell you almost have a fit
This guy is "gorge" and I got hit
There's no mistake this is it
'Til it's over and then
It's nice and quiet
Shhh, Shhh
But soon again
Shhh, Shhh
Starts another big riot
You blow a fuse
Zing boom
The devil cuts loose
Zing boom
So, what's the use
Wow bam
Of falling in love
The sky caves in
The devil cuts loose
You blow blow blow blow blow your fuse ahhhhhhh!
When you've fallen in love
Ssshhhhhh...

What You Know

I had a class show this afternoon. Went pretty good. I have of course nitpicked my performance to death, but I did it in my own head as not to annoy my friends and classmates. But everyone stepped up, I felt. It was nice to see.

I started my first scene and realized I was operating from something personal and very recent. It was a strange experience. Sort of transcendent, to be overly haughty about it. It was definitely cathartic, but could have been more so. Because I held back. I didn't take it where it should have gone. I got a bit scared.

Man, I have to stop that.

My Schedule, My Slump

I've been trying to be better about updating my "Where To Find Me" section that you can find to the right. While it isn't always accurate since I sometimes decide to stay home at the last moment, it probably hit about 90% true.

I was noticing that I am doing or seeing improv almost constantly this week. I've been accused of being a UCB junky before (or worse, a UCB groupie). Whatever. I like the craft.

But lately I have been in a slump. Maybe I am just seeing my flaws more. Maybe I am seeing my flaws and that is making me skittish... making me make even more mistakes. (Yeah, yeah. "There are no mistakes in improv." That is a lie. You make mistakes all the time. It's just that if you are good you can make beauty from the mistakes.) Maybe I'm plateauing. Happens to lots of people at a similar place to where I am. I just wish my plateau was at higher level.

Either way, I have to slog through the slump. One way for me to do that is to keep working my ass off. And to keep watching. One, to learn from others. And two, to keep my passion for improv high.

Also in the post-Idiotarod world (and post-other things), it's good to keep busy. Improv is cheap (especially if you are taking classes). In the 7 hours of improv/sketch I plan to see this week, I will spend a grand total of $5 (not count PBRs).

But even I will admit looking at the list... I look pretty one dimensional. So if anyone out there has something better for me to do, speak up!

Team COBRA wants to make Brooklyn safe for sex fiends

A nice little message came for me via Google Alerts. It had a bunch of articles on the Idiotarod. Courier Newspapers, which publishes neighborhood papers through out Brooklyn, had an article entitled "Bklyn a haven for sex fiends." Below that was a snippet of text from the article: "At least that's the vision that the organizers of this year's Idiotarod, COBRA (Carts of Brooklyn Racing Association) had in mind for the fourth annual New ..."

Wow! Our plans went deeper than I thought!

(In reality someone just did a shoddy cut and paste job. Somehow the article about the Idiotarod was attached to the end of an article about... well, sex fiends.)

thenametag.com ads

Yes, yes. I will finish all of my Idiotarod stuff soon. But while you're waiting, watch these leaked SuperBowl ads for TheNameTag.com.




(If you don't know, there is no thenametag.com.)

(via Adam Pally)

Lawyers of Second Life

Law.com has a fascinating article by John Bringardner discussing lawyers setting up shop in Second Life. It is the best article that I have seen that touches on Second Life's importance. It isn't about the marketing or the age play or the furries. It's about who owns what and how they own it. A lot of IP law future is going to fought and possibly decided in the Liden's little sandbox.

People I know who sell stuff I like

I know Megan and she makes some neat stuff. Silkscreened shirts, felt robot hearts, her zine "Scribble Faster."

Her stuff is very Valentine's Day approbriate. Or anti-Valntine's Day aaprobriate. Whatever.

She very much shares an astetic with Thank You, Robot. I did not know that until I saw her site. Isn't that interesting? But then again I have never spent all that much time with her.

It is just curious.

Boston, Not-Bombs, Moonities, Public Art, Marketing

Ignignot: You and your third dimension.
Frylock: What about it?
Ignignot: Oh nothing, it's cute. We have five.
Ur: Th-thousand.
Ignignot: Yes, five thousand.
Ur: Don't question it!
Frylock: Oh yeah? Well, I only see two.
Ignignot: Well that sounds like a personal problem.

As most of you have probably heard, the Boston police went a bit crazy yesterday. Someone noticed small devices with an LED figure giving the finger. As Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley told reporters, "It had a very sinister appearance. It had a battery behind it, and wires." Some of them were attached to the underside of bridges. Bomb squad was called, traffic disrupted, part ofthe river closed. General post-9/11 panic.

Well, it was just a guerilla marketing stunt for Adult Swim's cartoon "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." The picture was of Ignignot, a Mooninite.

Now the Boston police have arrested the two artists (yes, I said artists) responsible for the making and placement of the devices. Now Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens sit in jail. The police are charging them with "of placing a hoax device in a way that causes panic and disorderly conduct."

Hoax? Doesn't "hoax" mean they were trying to trick people. The "devices" weren't purposely designed to look like bombs. They didn't call in bomb threats. In fact, the devices were apparently put up in NYC two weeks ago and no one even noticed.

I'm not saying they were high art. I'm not even a big fan of guerilla marketing like this (since it could lead to crap loads of, well, crap all over our public spaces). But, in its small way, it was art. Just as the Idiotarod is art. At the worst it was littering.

Supporters are gathering outside of the Boston courthouse. Let us forget any feelings you may have about Agua Teen. This is an issue about public spaces and who owns them. To arrest these men under the guise of post-9/11 terror fears... Jeepers, people. Are we going let ourselves live with that much fear. I'm not saying that it was the best thought out stunt (again, not hoax), but I have certainly seen worse.

If I visit Boston, god forbid I forget my backpack somewhere.

Un dias bien el otro negro

Darling you gotta let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
If you say that you are mine
Ill be here til the end of time
So you got to let know
Should I stay or should I go?

Always tease tease tease
Siempre - coqetiando y enganyando
Youre happy when Im on my knees
Me arrodilla y estas feliz
One day is fine, next is black
Un dias bien el otro negro
So if you want me off your back
Al rededar en tu espalda
Well come on and let me know
Me tienes que desir
Should I stay or should I go?
Me debo ir o que darme

Should I stay or should I go now?
Should I stay or should I go now?
If I go there will be trouble
An if I stay it will be double
So come on and let me know

This indecisions bugging me
Esta undecision me molesta
If you dont want me, set me free
Si no me quieres, librame
Exactly whom Im supposed to be
Diga me que tengo ser
Dont you know which clothes even fit me?
saves que robas me querda?
Come on and let me know
Me tienes que desir
Should I cool it or should I blow?
me debo ir o quedarme?

Should I stay or should I go now?
yo me frio o lo sophlo?
If I go there will be trouble
Si me voi - va ver peligro
And if I stay it will be double
Si me quedo es doble
So you gotta let me know
Me tienes que decir
Should I stay or should I go?
yo me frio o lo sophlo?

-The Clash

Taint

The Gothamist has been very kind to the Idiotarod this year. They even helpeed announce the release of the results, even if as a tiny blurb in the Extra, Extra. Normally that wouldn't warrant me blogging about, except that I was pleased with the quote they chose to use from Number Six's commentary.

"An additional shout out to the ass I tackled at the finish line when I saw him spray painting on the park: Please send C.O.B.R.A. your address. We would like to come over, spray paint your house, spray paint your taint, and then kick you in it."

Good times.

The First Virtual Embassy for A Real World Country

Sweden is going to open an embassy in Second Life.

In the scheme of things, is that important? No, not really. But it is interesting watching the freight train that is Second Life. Not in popularity, since it is nigh impossible to figure out how popular SL actually is or how much it is riding off of people making accounts, getting bored and leaving. But it is a cultural freight train, one that seems to have avoided the actual culture part. The flood of coprtations and news agencies and now frackin' countries that are jumping in is a bit insane.

I suppose it is the wonder of having such a low starting cost/low risk. I mean, the worst that happens is that they hire two people for 6 months and pay a a few bucks for virtual land. If it fails, who cares. If it suceeds and increases tourism to Sweden, good for them.

It is still insane.

401 Class Show on Saturday Feb 3

I almost forgot.

I have a class show on Saturday at 4:00pm. At UCB. Come.

Apoohcalypse Now

Tuesday Morning by The Pogues

Too many sad days
Too many Tuesday mornings
I thought of you today
I wished it was yesterday morning
I thought of you today
And I dreamt you were dressed in mourning

But I knew that you
With your heart beating
And your eyes shining
Would be dreaming of me
Lying with you
On a Tuesday morning

I fell through the window
And I found that I was still breathing
I thought of tomorrow
And the fear that you might leave me
I thought of tomorrow
And I wished it was Monday evening

But I knew that you
With your heart beating
And your eyes shining
Would be dreaming of me
Lying with you
On a Tuesday morning

Turn your face from me
I will cover myself with sorrow
Bring Hell down upon me
I will surrender my heart to sorrow
Bring Hell down upon me
And I will say goodbye tomorrow

But I know that you
With your heart beating
And your eyes shining
Would be dreaming of me
Lying with you
On a Tuesday morning

Idiotarod Race Results Are Up!

Just a break in my story to announce that the results are up.... well, not off the placings. We do have a master list (not with all of the times, but with MOST of the places). It is just going to take a while to get it all in.

Anywhozits, Number Six rambles a bit in his commentary, but hopefully it helps explain how choices were made.

My Day At The Races, Part 1: Anticipation, Memories, and Cats and Mice

My sleep Friday night is erratic and troubled. I know it is the tension of The Idiotarod coming. Previous years being on Team COBRA was like the night before Christmas. This year it was like the night before Christmas... except that we were Santa. All know there are hundreds and hundreds of people counting on us. But by Saturday morning there is little left to do but to let the events play out. We had made all of our plans to the best of our abilities and just prayed that it would happen and that it would be fun. But 99% of the fun has nothing to do with the organizers. We are like the builders of a sandbox. It is there to play in, but we need the kids to come in play and THEY are what makes it fun. In fact, they bring the sand. We just have to make sure we haven't left any holes. Or left any turds in the box. (Okay, this now wins for tortured metaphor of the week.)

In the morning there is a flurry of phone calls as we schedule rides and what not. I spend some time cleaning up from Friday nights party and run out to the stationary store for last minute supplies. I try to eat, but my nerves are so bad that nothing tastes good except coffee... which I just know is going to react badly in my stomach later.

JD has stated he is picking me up at noon. At eleven I shower and then get dressed. I have, in a fit of hubris or something, decided to wear my best suit. I don't know why I thought I wouldn't get hit with food or vileness. I just love the idea of it. My job for the day is the collector of the judges decisions. My plan is to do as little judging as possible, just moderate. I though I should look stuff, accountantly, and the suit is dark with a vest. It also always makes me feel cool when I wear it. And having a bit of attitude will help during the day.

When I get it on, I check myself out. I wear good shoes, but I decide against dress socks and go with the smart wool socks instead. Friday was brutally cold, and even though Saturday is supposed to be warmer, it is still cold. I have bought a $3 pair of gold wire-rimmed, non-prescription glasses, and I slip them on to complete the look. I have to say, I loved it. I had certain seriousness and weight that I normally would have a hard time pulling off. Cheap black gloves and I am ready to go.

I gather all of my materials in my Tivo courier bag. An attache case handcuffed to me wrist would be better, but I wasn't about to spend big bucks for a tiny bit. The courier bag still works. I also through my COBRA jumpsuit (with freshly ironed on gold stars indicating my Committee Membership) and my COBRA knit cap into a pink shaping bag left over from a recent baby shower. It has bunnies on it (the bag, not the jumpsuit) and the idea that I look like I may be going to a fancy Baptism or Bris makes me giggle. It is the theater I love. And for me theater is in the details.

JD is of course running late because MrR has had his phone break in the night. MrR has the vast amount of the contacts for the day. I mean, we have planned enough and decentralized enough that the day should just happened no matter what individuals drop out. But if something goes horribly wrong, we all know that we would look to MrR to see what he says. He is very much the spirit and driving force of the day. If anyone deserves ownership, it is him, regardless of what he might say. So he had to print out his contact list and use MrsR's cel phone for the day. They don't get to my house until 12:30.

I am in the car with JD, MrR and MrsR. We realize that it is just the four runners from the first year of the Idiotarod. The only one missing is Williamsburg. (What ever happened to Williamsburg?) It is a poetic moment. The four of us, driving towards the start of COBRA's Idiotarod. It had just been 3 years since that first year, the year Hackett blew up his face.

I remember back to us sitting in front of one of the checkpoints that first year. We notice that a team that arrived after us has left before us. MrsR goes to and investigates and discovers that they bribed the judges! It is a revelation to us. Immediately you can see the gears turn in all of our heads. Especially MrR. You can just see him get that mischievous grin, that grin that says,"Oh... we can cheat... oh, how that changes everything...." I don't know if we used the word sabotage that day, but its meaning was in our heads. Sabotage would become our mantra, our modus operandi. And it was back at the moment.

As we get closer to the starting line we get a phone call. Our advance person at the REAL strtaing line is reporting that there are already police there. (Note: Some believe that we changed the starting location at the last minute. Untrue. For weeks we had been planning to publish a decoy start line. I mean, come on! This is COBRA! Do your really think we would publish the starting line 24 hours before the race?) Just three beat cops, but they are already there. It is not even 1:00pm yet! We wonder how they could have known but since some idiot had posted the address in the forums the night before, it wasn't a huge surprise. (Another note: If we call you secretly, don't you think that means we are trying to keep it secret? You're an idiot.) But we also think it is funny. There is the part of the whole day, the cat and mouse we know we are playing, that we all love. While we would be ecstatic if the police just stood back and watched, we know that would never happen.

We also know that if you send 1000 people into one area, there is no real way to stop it. We wouldn't be able to stop it if we tried. Events like the Idiotarod are a testament to the power of individuals when they get together. It doesn't just have to be for social change. It can be for art. I am not calling The Idiotarod art. No, yes, I am. It is art. But more on that later.

We are sent into a bit of a tizzy however. We start brainstorming alternate plans for the race. We start think about who we need to call, what plans we can shift, how we might need to adjust. And that is part of the fun of these sort of events and part of the insane magic that is COBRA. I have no idea what the planning was in previous year (and we where certainly helped by them having done such amazing jobs in the past), but COBRA as amazingly democratic. No, democratic is wrong. Organic. It was ideas tossed in the ring, without ego. Sometimes ideas where accepted, sometimes not. But usually yes. And someone would take charge of it and start researching it and make it happen. Or not. There were no fights internally in COBRA (or at least not that I know). Ideas just formed, mutated and appeared, often empty of ownership.

And that carried on to the last day as we discussed about what to do about the police. It wasn't even a debate... it just happened. As a unit we adjusted, shifted. To be overly dramatic and slightly creepy, we were like old lovers, asleep in bed. We just shifted with the other, no thought.

(NEXT: ENGINE #9 and MY SPECIAL TIME ALONE AT THE FINISH LINE.)

Need something to panic about? Try the Real-Time Emergency and Disaster Map!

As if I needed something to obsesses over, here is a wonderfully scary map that tracks radio distress signals from the National Association of Radio-Distress Signaling and Info-communications. Click on a picture and it will tell you what is going on. For example:

A Northern California hiker attacked by a mountain lion last week was airlifted to a San Francisco hospital Sunday, where he will likely undergo more surgery.
A spokesman for Mad River Community Hospital in Arcata said doctors wanted to send 70-year-old Jim Hamm to a major research hospital in San Francisco after they performed emergency surgery on his scalp and downgraded his condition from fair to serious. Hamm first underwent surgery Wednesday after a female mountain lion ambushed him at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. He and his wife, Nell, were hiking when the lion scalped him, mauled his face, ripped off part of his lips and inflicted other puncture wounds and scratches. Hamm is taking antibiotics to prevent infection, but doctors remained concerned about bacteria entering his body from the cat's claws and mouth. "Infection -- that's our biggest concern," Ayotte said. Hamm's wife, Nell, 65, smashed the cat in the snout with a large branch and stabbed it with a pen to fend off the attack. After the attack, game wardens closed the park and shot and killed a pair of lions. Researches identified the female as the attacker.

I also like the map because it looks like Eastern Europe is being attacked by giant chicken.

(Warning: the page loads very slow.)

(via Boing Boing)

CBS: Worst Network EVER!

What is CBS's problem with the Idiotarod???

First, there was the whole CSI:NY thing. Now they do some amazingly shoddy coverage of the actual race.

Look, CBS. Do some fact checking. It is the 4th annual race. COBRA had 45-plus members last year. (Yes, "20-plus" is 45-plus, but COBRA had 5 carts so that is 25 racers... and that doesn't count support staff). And do you think you could have found more jerky dickish teams if you tried? Do you need me to email you Disaster Vagina's contact info so you can get a complete set?

Way to suck, CBS.

Cleansing Snow

Yesterday was spent at Thank You, Robot practice, lunch with the boys, and then a great dinner with all of Thank You, Robot. It was just a damn pleasant finish to an mindblowingly kick-ass weekend.

There were some things about The Idiotarod that bummed me a touch (counting but not limited to: The JACKASS attiude of a lot of the racers, the slight smell of Crisco and fish still on my flesh, the loss of the cheese balls, the NYPD illogicaly shutting down the afterparty before it started, the dip-shit who I tackled as he started spray painting the park). There is also that post-event depression. All of that work and then it is over. Gone. Ephemerial except for the Flickr pictures and the smell. But Sunday but my mind on my future plans

As I come up out of the subway at Grand Army Plaza, I am greeted with flurries of snow. And it is sticking! Everything has taken on that special fresh snow quiet. The dirt of NY is painted with a fresh coat of white and it all seems so clean. The snowflakes kiss me and I kiss back and I am just filled with joy and calm.

Falling snow always makes me think clearer. I know what I want from the present and the future, and I know that I know what I want. But this weekend I forgot to say that. The snow told me that I could. That it is okay to speak up. Time is too short not to.

I am making plans and living in the moment, which is the balance I have ALWAYS have a hard time with. But not right now. And I have too much great stuff on my plate to worry about the potential that the Mystery Dish may be the best thing ever.. especially when the kitchen is still checking to see if there is any left. (Most tortured metaphor of the week.)

I spent a large portion on the morning trying to get the race results out, so I still haven't had time to write down my thoughts of the Greatest Race in the History of the World. Soon. Tonight. I promise.

Idiotarod: My Damn Cheese Balls!

Idiotarod.

I have tons... TONS!.. of thoughts on this years race. But it is late and I am oh, so tired.
Here is one picture of me. Yes, I was duct taped to a tree.

It was a day.

There hundreds of glorious pictures on Flickr. Take a look.